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Monday, June 11, 2012

Playing with Landscape Lighting

I have low voltage landscape lighting that illuminates the front of the house at night. I angled the lights to graze across the bricks and I am happy with the look. I hope it deters some of the mischief that often occurs at night. Unfortunately, some mischief still goes on.

My spineless prickly pear cactus is becoming a dominant architectural element in my front prairie, so I thought it might look nice if I illuminated it at night with a couple of additional lights. Here is the result.

It is not quite what I had in mind. All of the other plants around the cactus and the slope of the yard make placement of the lights difficult. It is also necessary to angle the lights so they do not blind anyone walking out of the house and down my sidewalk.

I will play with the lights a little more and see what I can come up with. I may decide to scrap the idea for now and try again later when the cactus gets larger.

I would never have thought of outdoor lighting's impact on nocturnal critters, but I heard a radio story about Moody Gardens in Galveston. The corpse flower at the Gardens is blooming. They won't be lighting the Gardens and staying open 24/7 for this big event because that would upset many of the animals.

Your cactus would look very dramatic if lit at night, but maybe all night every night is not appropriate.